WA-bred three-year-old filly Delulu’s career is taking off in magnificent fashion, and she is destined to advance to Free-For-All company for mares, according to her driver Deni Roberts.
Delulu, prepared by champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond, won her second race at Gloucester Park in the space of four days when she unwound a spectacular burst from last to score an easy win in the $21,000 Retravision.com.au Pace on Friday night.
She was a $4.30 chance from the No. 5 barrier in the field of eight and was in last position when Roberts sent her forward with a three-wide burst with 650m to travel. She then went four and five wide down the back straight before bursting past the pacemaker and $2.25 favourite Hunger Strike to hit the front on the home turn.
Delulu went on to score by a length and a half from the fast-finishing Our Rich Cargo ($17), rating 1.57.4 after final quarters of 28.4sec. and 28.5sec.
“We got to go a bit earlier than usual tonight and we were five deep down the back and finished strongly,” said Roberts. “She is a big filly who has come a long way in the body and the brain. When she puts it all together, I think we will be looking down the Free-For-All route.”
Delulu was purchased for $52,500 at the 2023 Perth APG yearling sale, and she now has earned $84,811 from seven wins and eight placings from 24 starts.
She is by Poster Boy and is out of the Live Or Die mare Smart By Design, who raced in WA in 2015 and 2016 before being retired with a record of 35 starts for four wins, eleven placings and $28,486 in stakes.
Smart By Design’s elder half-sister Kamwood Laughter raced 264 times for 64 wins, 68 placings and $506,965. Kamwood Laughter was trained by Greg and Skye Bond when she had 19 starts in WA in 2012 for eleven wins (including the Golden Girls Mile at a 1.53.8 rate over 1670m at Pinjarra), five seconds and one third placing.
Petes Said So, a half-brother to Smart By Design, earned $582,120 from 29 wins (24 in New South Wales and five in Queensland) and 74 placings from 228 starts between 2018 and 2025.
Delulu’s win in race one on the eight-event program on Friday night heralded a tremendous evening for Roberts, who went on to land four winners. “I’ve driven four winners on a program about six or seven times, but haven’t been able to make it five,” she said.
